Sydney Design Week will present six free digital sessions on hyperconnectivity – a theme that creative director Stephen Todd says is about remembering what we learnt in 2020.
September 13th, 2021
Featuring a stellar line-up of Australian and international designers, the Powerhouse Museum’s Sydney Design Week is moving online to present six sessions based on hyperconnectivity.
“That idea of hyperconnectivity came out of last year and I decided to really lean into what we learnt in 2020. Now that we’re coming out of the pandemic, let’s not forget the lesson,” says Sydney Design Week creative director Stephen Todd.
Todd is no stranger to facing the lessons of 2020. Just as the commissions went out for last year’s Sydney Design Week, he was in New York for the Rem Koolhaas exhibition Countryside, The Future at the Guggenheim. “We started hearing about a virus and everyone thought, ‘Oh it’s fine, it’ll go away’,” says Todd, who at the time was a consultant for Sydney Design Week. Of course, COVID-19 persisted and the original program was significantly hindered.
A year on and although the Powerhouse Museum planned for a physical event for the 2021 Sydney Design Week, the city’s current wave of COVID-19 once again obstructed those plans – but Todd, who is now creative director of the event, has an alternative devised. A very condensed version of the original program has been conceived, which Todd says will display “the very essence” of the design week.
While forming the theme of the talks, hyperconnectivity also forms the program’s model of hyperconnected international communication, something which was further embraced in 2020.
“It seems to me that one of the strongest things that we learnt last year was that even in the depths of isolation, we are intrinsically connected. Especially those in the creative industries, people found ways to keep working. People found ways to keep communicating,” says Todd. “We were very agile and very adept at navigating that situation as horrible and as heartbreaking as it was.”
While it’s hard for Todd to choose a talk he’s most excited for, he does speak animatedly about his session with UK-based designer Marc Newson.
“Marc Newson has a very particular connection to Sydney, because he grew up here and studied here, and also the Powerhouse holds the world’s largest collection of his work,” says Todd. Coincidentally, he tells me, it is the 20th anniversary of Newson’s first museum retrospective show, Design Works, which originally showed at the Powerhouse. “So it’s kind of an anniversary conversation, in a way,” says Todd.
Drawing on the museum’s history with Newson, the discussion will be an informal insight into Newson’s process that is “intelligent but not intellectual”, according to Todd. They plan to discuss some of his most recognisable designs, before looking at his more recent works, including limited edition pieces that he shows at Gagosian Gallery in New York and Galerie Kreo in Paris. “It’ll be really getting the designer insight into his own thinking and experiences,” says Todd.
Another session close to Todd’s heart is Workplace As Community. The livestream will bring together Lindsey Adelman of Lindsey Adelman Studio, David Flack of Flack Studio, and Yasmine Ghoniem of YSG. “It’s going to be a conversation about their work, but also about the way they work. People have this image of the interior designer or the designer as elitist and off in their own world, and that’s not what that person is anymore,” says Todd.
“The strength of the Powerhouse is being able to facilitate a meeting of these creators,” he says.
Book Your Sydney Design Week Sessions Today:
Imagining Music
Jonathan Zawada (AU)
16 September, 12-12:30pm
‘Discovered’ Designers For Tomorrow
Sarah Douglass (UK), Mac Collins (UK), Adam Markowitz (AU), Ivana Taylor (AU) 16 September, 7-7:45pm
Workplace As Community
Lindsey Adelman (US), David Flack (AU), Yasmine Ghoniem (AU) 17 September, 10-10:45am
Urban Transformers
Tina Pang (HK), Gary Change (HK), Jennifer Mcmaster (AU) 17 September, 11:30am-12:15pm
Public Space
Ronan Bouroullec (FR) 17 September, 6-6:30pm
Design Works
Marc Newson (UK) 17 September, 7-8pm
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
Savage Design’s approach to understanding the relationship between design concepts and user experience, particularly with metalwork, transcends traditional boundaries, blending timeless craftsmanship with digital innovation to create enduring elegance in objects, furnishings, and door furniture.
Suitable for applications ranging from schools and retail outlets to computer rooms and X-ray suites, Palettone comes in two varieties and a choice of more than fifty colours.
Sub-Zero and Wolf’s prestigious Kitchen Design Contest (KDC) has celebrated the very best in kitchen innovation and aesthetics for three decades now. Recognising premier kitchen design professionals from around the globe, the KDC facilitates innovation, style and functionality that pushes boundaries.
With Milan 2024 only a few weeks away, we sneak a view of some of the most exciting pieces set to go on show – from lighting design to furniture, here are nine preview products.
As a program between Powerhouse Parramatta and Cité Internationale des Arts, the galang residency supports Indigenous creativity and dialogue around cultural heritage and representation.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
We spoke with George Fleck, Vice President and Global Brand Leader of W Hotels, about the intermingling of hotel and hospitality design trends.
Designed to drive positive change, promote sustainable practices and cultivate inclusive communities, the recent launch of the Parliamentary Friends of Australian Design will champion the role of urban design in shaping the nation’s identity.